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Susan Johnson (more chengdu)The Arthouse Restaurant, a welcome addition to Chengdu’s independent Western restaurant scene, has been up and running for a few months now and is starting to hit their stride. It’s located in one of Chengdu’s up and coming areas in the southeast, between the South Railway station and Emerald City. The space, on the fifth floor of a riverside building, doubles as a business style teahouse with a luxe interior. A few patio tables are outside among a thick hedge of well kept greenery. There are also displays of art throughout the space.

MORE dropped by on a recent afternoon to meet Andrew and Bamboo, the duo behind the new place, and were served a few of the menu’s highlights. We started with good, warm bread with garlic butter. We then sampled a spicy Thai beef salad which was nicely seasoned with rare beef. The rib eye steak, which is char grilled to order, was garnished with fresh sage and sided with pepper sauce and very good house made potato wedges and roasted garlic. The sautéed spaghetti with black pepper beef and pickled Sichuan chili is popular and only 48RMB, the chicken quesadilla with tomato salsa and guacamole is for lighter appetites and 58RMB. Dessert was a not too sweet crème brûlée with a crunchy sugar crust. The wine list, which complements the menu nicely, has a thoughtful selection of Australian, French, and Italian bottles; there are also house reds and whites available by the glass.

Thanks to the restaurant’s teahouse alter ego, Arthouse feels like a natural place to while away a few hours in the afternoons and the restaurant is also offering afternoon tea sets featuring their homemade desserts. They are doing a Tuesday roast special every week, but guests have to book ahead. There will be cocktail specials on Friday evenings as well, which would be a good time to drop in and check out the space. Art events are also held regularly.